Step #4 : Set a timer for a 20 sec work : 20 sec rest interval program. If you don’t have a timer, check out Gymboss. They’re easy to use, inexpensive and will prevent you dropping & cracking your smartphone screen

Every day I go to the gym and I see the same people doing the same workouts.

Runners get on a treadmill and run

Yoginis perform their poses

Bodybuilders squeeze & flex their muscles

Powerlifters lift heavy stuff

Aerobicizers attend their group fitness classes

And the dude at my gym who wears Adidas soccer shorts from 1978 stretches out his hamstrings threatening to dislodge his “fellas” from their cotton prison (the horror…the horror)

And while all of these activities are laudable and are infinitely better for you than sitting on the couch eating chips and watching reality tv, they all have their limitations. And since it is a new year, I thought it was the perfect time to outline 10 ways to workout smarter…achieving better results, in less time, with fewer aches & pains.

Tip # 1 – High Intensity Interval Training aka HIIT

There is an ever growing body of evidence showing that HIIT workouts are superior to traditional cardio training in almost every conceivable way.

Less time required per workout – I never, ever perform more than 20 min on a HIIT workout

Reduced chance of overuse injuries – just ask a runner about their aches & pains

To recap, HIIT takes up less of your time, is easier on your body, is better at improving the function of your heart & lungs and will help make you stronger and leaner more efficiently than cardio training. Sounds pretty smart to me.

Here are a bunch of articles I have written on HIIT to get you started:

Anyone familiar with Health Habits knows that I am a big fan of HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training

I love HIIT is because…

HIIT makes you faster

HIIT saves time with short workouts

HIIT make you more powerful

HIIT burns calories for hours after you’ve finished your workout

HIIT is challenging

HIIT makes a workout more fun

HIIT improves your aerobic endurance

HIIT improves heart function

HIIT improves your aerobic endurance

HIIT helps heart disease patients regain their health

HIIT is appropriate for almost all trainees

HIIT makes you look like a total BADASS in the gym

Unfortunately, just as soon as HIIT left the fringes of exercise science and moved into the mainstream and your local YMCA, the central concept behind the success of HIIT came under attack.

HIIT works as well as it does because of intensity of effort. Not length of sprint…or length of training session…or number of sprints performed…or restricting rest periods…HIIT works because of a complete 100%, pit-bull chasing you down the street type of intensity.

Each HIIT sprint should feel FAST. When your sprints start to slow down, you need to…

Increase rest period length, or

Shorten sprint duration, or

Reduce resistance, or

All of the above

Remember – When it comes to HIIT – Quality trumps Quantity

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Bruce Lee accomplished some amazing accomplishments in his short life. One of his most impressive physical feats was his super-powerful one inch punch.

How the heck did he do that?

According to British researchers, it was Mr. Lee’s over-developed cerebellums and primary motor cortex that allowed him to coordinate his body movements to deliver maximum force.

The Science

Previous studies have shown that the forces generated in a karate punch is not determined by muscular strength but by the brain & nervous system, Unfortunately, up until now, they had no idea what parts of the nervous system were responsible for making Bruce Lee a super-freak.

In this recent study, researchers looked for differences in brain structure between 12 karate practitioners with a black belt rank and an average of 13.8 years’ karate experience, and 12 control subjects of similar age who exercised regularly but did not have any martial arts experience.

In the first part of the study, the researchers measure the short range (5 cm) punching power of all 24 test subjects by means of infrared markers on their arms & torsos. As expected, the karate masters punched harder than the control subjects.

Analysis of punch biomechanics and brain function revealed the reasons for the difference in punching power.

The researchers found that punching power depends on timing.

Specifically, punching force correlated with how well the movement of the wrists and shoulders were synchronized.

In short, technique + muscular power = Bruce Lee kicking your butt.

To test brain function, they used diffusion tensor imaging to scan the grey matter (main body of nerve cells) and white matter (bundles of fibres that carry signals from one region of the brain to another) of the test subjects’ brains.

And what they found is that there was major structural differences in the white matter of the cerebellums and primary motor cortex of the karate masters.

It was these differences in the cerebellum that correlated with the synchronicity of the subjects’ wrist and shoulder movements that produced the larger punching forces.

The karate black belts were able to repeatedly coordinate their punching action with a level of coordination that novices can’t produce. We think that ability might be related to fine tuning of neural connections in the cerebellum, allowing them to synchronise their arm and trunk movements very accurately.

We’re only just beginning to understand the relationship between brain structure and behaviour, but our findings are consistent with earlier research showing that the cerebellum plays a critical role in our ability to produce complex, coordinated movements.

So there you go…your nervous system is what’s going to separate your athletic performance from that of the average gym rat.

And that’s why nervous system function is one of the linchpins of all my training programs.

This is your last bridge-esque workout of the week…designed to allow your muscles & nervous system a chance to fully recover and get ready for what’s coming next week.

[box type=”note”]The workout listed below is for those trainees interested in adding muscle to their physiques and who are not exhausted from the past few weeks of workouts. If that isn’t you, skip these workouts and go do some yoga or pilates or cardio or mobility work or play tennis, soccer, etc… [/box]

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

* banging out those first 10 or so in normal fashion…rest for a few seconds – drawing in 4 big breaths…and then bang out a few more reps ,,,rest again…lift again…rest again…until you get to (50-80) reps
Rest 5-10 minutes, and then do the same thing with

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

THE WORKOUT

Exercise #1

Bulgarian Squat/Lunge (bodyweight only)

Warm up with 2 sets per leg of 10 reps

* Then do 40 to 60 reps per leg by…

* banging out the first 15-20 in normal fashion…rest for a few seconds – drawing in 4 big breaths…and then bang out a few more reps (1-5),,,rest again…lift again…rest again…until you get to your maximum (40-60) reps

Rest 5 minutes, and then do the other leg

Rest another 5 min and move onto….

HIIT #1

4 x 10 second sprints in the shortest amount of time possible.

Note – I want all 4 sprints to be fast, so it’s better to rest longer and keep your speed up than to start sprinting too soon and pedal like a turtle.

I prefer bike sprints or hill sprints, but it really doesn’t matter – use what’s available

Exercise #2

Glute Ham Raises (2 Leg)

Same protocol as the Bulgarians

Warm up with a couple of 10 rep sets

And then try to get between 50-80 reps

* banging out those first 30 or so in normal fashion…rest for a few seconds – drawing in 4 big breaths…and then bang out a few more reps ,,,rest again…lift again…rest again…until you get to (50-80) reps

Note: There is a good chance some of you won’t be able to do 50 reps. Here’s what I want you to do – place an incline bench or big stability ball in front of you so that you can do partial reps.

You will have to fiddle around with the depth of repetition and the # of repetitions to get it right.

Either way, remember that you legs should be screaming at you by the end of this single work set

HIIT #2

5 x 10 second sprints in the shortest amount of time possible.

Note – I want all 5 sprints to be fast, so it’s better to rest longer and keep your speed up than to start sprinting too soon and pedal like a turtle.

I prefer bike sprints or hill sprints, but it really doesn’t matter – use what’s available

In addition to the leg work, I want you to stuff a lacrosse ball/tennis ball/yoga ball in between your shoulder blades & spine, lay on your back letting the ball sink into the nooks & crannies. Once the ball is in there, start making circles with your arm. It will break up those tight upper back muscles you get from staring at the computer screen.

In addition to the leg work, I want you to stuff a lacrosse ball/tennis ball/yoga ball in between your shoulder blades & spine, lay on your back letting the ball sink into the nooks & crannies. Once the ball is in there, start making circles with your arm. It will break up those tight upper back muscles you get from staring at the computer screen.

In addition to the leg work, I want you to stuff a lacrosse ball/tennis ball/yoga ball in between your shoulder blades & spine, lay on your back letting the ball sink into the nooks & crannies. Once the ball is in there, start making circles with your arm. It will break up those tight upper back muscles you get from staring at the computer screen.

In addition to the leg work, I want you to stuff a lacrosse ball/tennis ball/yoga ball in between your shoulder blades & spine, lay on your back letting the ball sink into the nooks & crannies. Once the ball is in there, start making circles with your arm. It will break up those tight upper back muscles you get from staring at the computer screen.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

Tabata #4

You can change foot position as required to complete the 20 sec of pain

That should be enough for today.

At this point, you have done 16 minutes of HIIT/HIRT/Tabata work + another 9 minutes of HIIT sprints

If you are a total freak of nature, feel free to repeat some of the sets. Use your ability to recover your breath as a guide. If it’s taking longer & longer to breath normally between sets, call it a day.

Alternately, you can throw in 20 minutes of cardio….stretch and go home

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

THE WORKOUT

The HIRT sets will consist of:

2 exercises performed back to back for 3 minutes.

Rest kept to a minimum

Low number of reps per set

The HIIT sets will consist of a series of sprints (of varying lengths) performed over 3 minutes. I will change up the duration of sprints & rest periods throughout the workout. How you HIIT is up to you – running sprints, cycling sprints, rowing sprints, StairMaster sprints, swimming sprints, etc…

Now, it’s time to spend about 20 minutes stretching muscles & mobilizing tight joints. Most people have issues with hip flexors, glutes, pec minor, and shoulders, but since we’re all individuals, I want you to focus on loosening up your own personal “tight bits”.

And because I forgot to include it in Monday’s workout, here is the new joint mobility exercise I promised you. It’s designed to rehab tight calves/achilles…just in time for outdoor running season

Next week is going to be all new stuff…hope you like it/hate it/like it

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

And remember, weight selection can sometimes be tricky with Tabata workouts. If you go too heavy, you run out of gas and stop partway through the 20 seconds of work. Go too light and it becomes an aerobics class.

What I ask my clients to do is:

If you normally like to push heavy weight…I want you to cut back significantly during Tabatas and focus on the number of reps per set.

If you normally train lighter and do high rep workouts..then I want you to jack up the weight and drop the # of reps

The success of this program depends on you being willing to break out of your comfort zone.

We’re going to do 2 weeks of these workouts, then back of for a week with some bridge workouts and then back to Tabata for another 2 weeks.

You might hate me during the workouts, but you’ll thank me when you see yourself in the mirror..

Also helpful to these workouts is a Gymboss timer Staring at a clock while doing Tabatas is a real pain.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

At this point, you have done 16 minutes of HIIT/HIRT/Tabata work + another 9 minutes of HIIT sprints

If you are a total freak of nature, feel free to repeat some of the sets. Use your ability to recover your breath as a guide. If it’s taking longer & longer to breath normally between sets, call it a day.

Alternately, you can throw in 20 minutes of cardio….stretch and go home

Remember, weight selection can sometimes be tricky with Tabata workouts. If you go too heavy, you run out of gas and stop partway through the 20 seconds of work. Go too light and it becomes an aerobics class.

What I ask my clients to do is:

If you normally like to push heavy weight…I want you to cut back significantly during Tabatas and focus on the number of reps per set.

If you normally train lighter and do high rep workouts..then I want you to jack up the weight and drop the # of reps

The success of this program depends on you being willing to break out of your comfort zone.

We’re going to do 2 weeks of these workouts, then back of for a week with some bridge workouts and then back to Tabata for another 2 weeks.

You might hate me during the workouts, but you’ll thank me when you see yourself in the mirror..

Also helpful to these workouts is a Gymboss timer Staring at a clock while doing Tabatas is a real pain.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

At this point, you have done 16 minutes of HIIT/HIRT/Tabata work + another 9 minutes of HIIT sprints

If you are a total freak of nature, feel free to repeat some of the sets. Use your ability to recover your breath as a guide. If it’s taking longer & longer to breath normally between sets, call it a day.

Alternately, you can throw in 20 minutes of cardio….stretch and go home

Today’s workout focuses on a bunch of timed HIRT supersets with short rest periods.

I’m asking your muscles to be explosive over and over and over without giving them much rest. It’s a wicked calorie burner that pushes your anaerobic energy systems very hard and helps make you a faster athlete…even if you don’t consider yourself an athlete.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

There is a good chance you will need to put the non-working leg on the floor with this exercise. I did this workout last night and part way through my core was fatiguing thanks to my tired legs…end result: my lower back started to ache. I dropped the non-working leg to the floor and finished off the 5 min. No point in hurting your back

After 5 minutes, wipe off the bench and go flop onto a mat and stretch out those leg muscles.

You’re done for the day.

Notes

If you find that you can’t complete 5 reps on any of the sets, I would rather you drop the reps and keep good form, than get sloppy.

Try to keep rest periods as short as possible – it’s key to the fat-burning effect

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

THE WORKOUT

As I mentioned above, today we are going to alternate HIIT sprints with slow-motion resistance exercises

The sprints are designed to target your nervous system and ask your muscles to contract ultra-fast and ultra-powerfully, while the slo-mo weight-lifting exercises dramatically increase muscular time-under-tension and play with your energy systems in a very unique way.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

NOTE – I’ve been using links instead of always embedding videos week after week because it speeds up how quickly the site loads. Personally, I can’t stand a slow-loading site, but if you hate the links and want the embedded videos every time, please leave a comment

THE HIIT WORKOUT

HIIT workouts are all about intensity.

The goal is to generate huge amounts of power & speed in a relatively short period of time…over and over again with the smallest possible rest periods.

If the resistance is too high, you don’t get the speed.

If the resistance is too low, you don’t get the power

If the rest periods are too short, you don’t get the power or speed or volume and you’ll probably puke.

If the rest periods are too long, you’ll get power & speed but you’ll never develop any anaerobic endurance.

This is my all-time favorite HIIT workout.

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 10 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 20 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 30 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 40 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 50 second

REPEAT 3 more times….for a total of 20 minutes

If you need more than 50 seconds rest after completing the first round of 5 sprints, you can extend the rest period to recharge your batteries.

Equipment: You can do your sprints on a track, up a hill (brutal), on an exercise bike, on an elliptical, on a VersaClimber (extra brutal), in a pool, or on a treadmill….keeping in mind that you will need to hop on and off a quickly moving treadmill belt.

It will also make your life easier if you use a Gymboss interval timer.

THE JOINT MOBILITY WORKOUT

If you have access to Jump Stretch style strength bands, do this video for about 10-15 minutes

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

THE WORKOUT

As I mentioned above, today we are going to alternate HIIT sprints with slow-motion resistance exercises

The sprints are designed to target your nervous system and ask your muscles to contract ultra-fast and ultra-powerfully, while the slo-mo weight-lifting exercises dramatically increase muscular time-under-tension and play with your energy systems in a very unique way.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

What is physical fitness?

You will receive some very different answers depending upon who you ask.

To a person with a medical condition, physical fitness may be a day without pain or a day where they have the energy to walk down to the corner store. To the weekend warrior, it is being able to compete with his friends and still be able to go to work on Monday.

To an Olympic calibre gymnast, physical fitness is performing an Iron Cross. The flexibility of an accomplished yoga practitioner is a display of physical fitness. As is the endurance of a triathelete. Or the power of an Olympic style weightlifter. Or the speed of a sprinter. Or the agility of a badminton player…

They are all right and they are all wrong.

For their particular needs, there is an appropriate level of adequate fitness. The weekend warrior has no need to perform an Iron Cross. Or a gymnast to run a marathon.

The decathalete / heptahalete is supposed to represent the ultimate of physical fitness. While the other athletes are specialists, these multi-sports athletes train to develop the ultimate combination of the different components that make up physical fitness.

So that is where we will go. By breaking down physical fitness into it’s components, we will arrive at a better understanding of physical fitness.

The 5 Components of Physical Fitness

1. Muscular Strength

This component of physical fitness deals specifically with the performance of the body’s skeletal muscles.

Your skeletal muscles contract and stretch in order to produce movement. Simple.

How they produce that movement is less simple. Your body’s muscles are highly adaptable. They will react to the stresses that you place upon them. Sit on the couch and they will atrophy. Try and run fast and they adapt to produce faster contractions. Lift heavy objects and they will increase their ability to produce maximum strength.

One way to organize these different types of strength is in relation to time.

Maximum muscular strength is the ability to produce the most amount of force regardless of time. That big guy at your gym that is ALWAYS bench pressing may have a high level of maximum strength. He can produce a large amount of force (to move that heavy barbell) but he does it relatively SLOOOWWWLY.

Maximum muscular endurance is the ability to produce a smaller amount of force, but do it for a long time. A marathon runner has a high level of muscular endurance. His bodyweight requires less force to move than a heavy barbell, but he is able to move that weight for 2+ hours non-stop.

Maximum muscular speed is the ability to produce muscular movement very quickly. A hummingbird’s wings are the epitome of speed.

Muscular power is a combination of maximum strength and speed. An Olympic weightlifter is a great example of power. So are high jumpers and sprinters. Another way of looking at power would be to use our weightlifter friend from the gym.

If he bench presses 300 lbs but takes 3 seconds to perform the lift, his power output is 100 lbs. per second. However, if he drops the weight to 200 lbs and performs the lift in 1 second, his power output shoots up to 200 lbs. per second.

If that wasn’t confusing enough, different types of muscular strength rely on the development of the 4 other components of physical fitness.

Like weeks 1 & 2, this workout uses HIRT supersets to burn a ton of calories via an increased EPOC…while simultaneously balancing out all of your imbalanced muscles and turning you into the fittest you possible.

It will also have the personal trainers at your gym asking you what the heck you’re doing.

NOTE – I chose to link the videos instead of embedding them because you’ve seen them twice already. If you need a refresher, just click back to the Week 1 post.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

NOTE – I’ve been using links instead of always embedding videos week after week because it speeds up how quickly the site loads. Personally, I can’t stand a slow-loading site, but if you hate the links and want the embedded videos every time, please leave a comment

THE HIIT WORKOUT

HIIT workouts are all about intensity.

The goal is to generate huge amounts of power & speed in a relatively short period of time…over and over again with the smallest possible rest periods.

If the resistance is too high, you don’t get the speed.

If the resistance is too low, you don’t get the power

If the rest periods are too short, you don’t get the power or speed or volume and you’ll probably puke.

If the rest periods are too long, you’ll get power & speed but you’ll never develop any anaerobic endurance.

This is my all-time favorite HIIT workout.

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 10 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 20 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 30 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 40 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 50 second

REPEAT 3 more times….for a total of 20 minutes

If you need more than 50 seconds rest after completing the first round of 5 sprints, you can extend the rest period to recharge your batteries.

Equipment: You can do your sprints on a track, up a hill (brutal), on an exercise bike, on an elliptical, on a VersaClimber (extra brutal), in a pool, or on a treadmill….keeping in mind that you will need to hop on and off a quickly moving treadmill belt.

It will also make your life easier if you use a Gymboss interval timer.

THE JOINT MOBILITY WORKOUT

If you have access to Jump Stretch style strength bands, do this video for about 10-15 minutes

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

THE WORKOUT

As I mentioned above, today we are going to alternate HIIT sprints with slow-motion resistance exercises

The sprints are designed to target your nervous system and ask your muscles to contract ultra-fast and ultra-powerfully, while the slo-mo weight-lifting exercises dramatically increase muscular time-under-tension and play with your energy systems in a very unique way.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

NOTE – I’ve been using links instead of always embedding videos week after week because it speeds up how quickly the site loads. Personally, I can’t stand a slow-loading site, but if you hate the links and want the embedded videos every time, please leave a comment

THE HIIT WORKOUT

HIIT workouts are all about intensity.

The goal is to generate huge amounts of power & speed in a relatively short period of time…over and over again with the smallest possible rest periods.

If the resistance is too high, you don’t get the speed.

If the resistance is too low, you don’t get the power

If the rest periods are too short, you don’t get the power or speed or volume and you’ll probably puke.

If the rest periods are too long, you’ll get power & speed but you’ll never develop any anaerobic endurance.

This is my all-time favorite HIIT workout.

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 10 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 20 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 30 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 40 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 50 second

REPEAT 3 more times….for a total of 20 minutes

If you need more than 50 seconds rest after completing the first round of 5 sprints, you can extend the rest period to recharge your batteries.

Equipment: You can do your sprints on a track, up a hill (brutal), on an exercise bike, on an elliptical, on a VersaClimber (extra brutal), in a pool, or on a treadmill….keeping in mind that you will need to hop on and off a quickly moving treadmill belt.

It will also make your life easier if you use a Gymboss interval timer.

THE JOINT MOBILITY WORKOUT

If you have access to Jump Stretch style strength bands, do this video for about 10-15 minutes

REMINDER – for this workout, you will need a stopwatch or interval timer. Trying to watch a wall clock while doing this workout is not so easy.

.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

I normally keep my clients rest periods under 2 minutes as a rule, but we all have different levels of fitness. If 2 minutes is too short for you, use your breathing as a guide. When you are breathing “almost normal”, it’s time to workout again.

The sprints are designed to target your nervous system and ask your muscles to contract ultra-fast and ultra-powerfully, while the slo-mo weight-lifting exercises dramatically increase muscular time-under-tension and play with your energy systems in a very unique way.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

We’re hitting the same bodyparts as Day #1, but I have changed up the order of the supersets and I want you to choose different exercises from Day #1

Other than that, the goals are the same…

anaerobic endurance

burning fat

weight lifting supersets

HIIT sprints

balancing muscle groups & movements

lifting for time instead of reps

laying waste to an invading Persian horde

… the rep & set schemes are the same…

OVERVIEW

4 x 5 Min HIIT sprint superset

3 x 5 Min HIRT supersets

…and I expect the same 100% effort from y’all.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

Week #45 is a repeat of last week. These workouts are designed to maximize your:

anaerobic endurance

burning fat

weight lifting supersets

HIIT sprints

balancing muscle groups & movements

lifting for time instead of reps

laying waste to an invading Persian horde

OVERVIEW

4 x 5 Min HIIT sprint superset

3 x 5 Min HIRT supersets

WORKOUT WARM-UPCircles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP 1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up THE WORKOUTHIIT Superset #1

The 10 second sprint duration is an approximation. I want to keep them relatively short. Anywhere from 5-15 sec is okay. . That’s it, you’re done for today. Stretch and Go home Tomorrow, do some easy cardio & stretching (lots of stretching) Wednesday, it’s back to the weights

Weight selection can sometimes be tricky with Tabata workouts. If you go too heavy, you run out of gas and stop partway through the 20 seconds of work. Go too light and it becomes an aerobics class.

What I ask my clients to do is:

If you normally like to push heavy weight…I want you to cut back significantly during Tabatas and focus on the number of reps per set.

If you normally train lighter and do high rep workouts..then I want you to jack up the weight and drop the # of reps

The success of this program depends on you being willing to break out of your comfort zone.

We’re going to do 2 weeks of these workouts, then back of for a week with some bridge workouts and then back to Tabata for another 2 weeks.

You might hate me during the workouts, but you’ll thank me when you see yourself in the mirror..

Also helpful to these workouts is an interval timer. Staring at a clock while doing Tabatas is a real pain.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

Tabata #1

When you can breathe “normally”, I want you to do a short HIIT sprint session consisting of

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re going back to Tabata.

Tabata #2

Incline DB Chest Press

Press the DBs for 20 seconds

Rest (DBs on chest) for 10 seconds

8 sets of chest presses

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

Catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re doing HIIT sprints again.

HIIT #2

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re going back to Tabata.

Tabata #3

Pulldowns – vary grips as needed

Pulldown for 20 seconds
Rest for 10 seconds
8 sets of pulldowns
4 minutes total
Perform as many reps as possible per set

When you can breathe “normally”, it’s HIIT time again.

HIIT #3

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’ve got one more Tabata.

Tabata #4

Cable Woodchops

Woodchop in one direction for 20 seconds
Rest (standing) for 10 seconds
Repeat in the other direction
Rest (standing) for 10 seconds
8 sets total of Woodchops – 4 per direction
4 minutes total
Perform as many reps as possible per set

That should be enough for today.

At this point, you have done 16 minutes of HIIT/HIRT/Tabata work + another 9 minutes of HIIT sprints

If you are a total freak of nature, feel free to repeat some of the sets. Use your ability to recover your breath as a guide. If it’s taking longer & longer to breath normally between sets, call it a day.

Alternately, you can throw in 20 minutes of cardio….stretch and go home

I recommend, use and have an affiliate agreement with the Gymboss Interval Timer people. They have recently introduced a new model – the Gymboss Max – that allows you to do more complicated intervals as well as keep your favorite intervals in memory.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

When you can breathe “normally”, I want you to do a short HIIT sprint session consisting of

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re going back to Tabata.

Tabata #2

See Saw Press

Press the DBs/KBs for 20 seconds

Rest (arms at side) for 10 seconds

8 sets of see saw presses

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re doing HIIT sprints again.

HIIT #2

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re going back to Tabata.

Tabata #3

Standing Cable Row

Row for 20 seconds

Rest for 10 seconds

8 sets of standing cable rows

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

When you can breathe “normally”, it’s HIIT time again.

HIIT #3

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’ve got one more Tabata.

Tabata #4

1 Leg Deadlift

Deadlift on 1 leg for 20 seconds

Rest (standing) for 10 seconds

Repeat on other leg – alternate back and forth

8 sets of 1 Leg DLs

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

Hold DBs for resistance

That should be enough for today.

At this point, you have done 16 minutes of HIIT/HIRT/Tabata work + another 9 minutes of HIIT sprints

If you are a total freak of nature, feel free to repeat some of the sets. Use your ability to recover your breath as a guide. If it’s taking longer & longer to breath normally between sets, call it a day.

Alternately, you can throw in 20 minutes of cardio….stretch and go home

The plan involves making you strong, powerful and agile without adding a lot of muscle mass. To do that, I am going to prescribe two resistance training workouts per week. Depending upon your current level of strength, these workout will be either:

Two strength workouts (if you need a lot of help)

One strength and one HIIT/HIRT workout (you have some strength, but need to get more explosive)

One HIIT/HIRT and one agility/obstacle workout (you’re strong enough and want to dominate)

These two workouts are to be performed in addition to your running workouts, so you will have to make adjustments to ensure adequate recovery time.

STRENGTH WORKOUTS

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The last thing a Tough Mudder wants from their strength workouts is that they cause the growth of big, bodybuilder muscles. What you want is increased strength/power with minimal weight gain.

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And that’s what you’ve got with this workout.

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Note: a 20×0 tempo for bench press = lowering the bar to your chest for a count of two, no resting the bar on your chest, “xploding” the bar off your chest as fast as possible and no resting with arms extended

At this point, you’ve built up a solid strength base and are blasting through the HIIT/HIRT workouts like an enraged wildebeest. It’s time to prepare for the obstacles you’re going to face during your challenge. Unfortunately, seeing as how every race is a little different, I can’t give you specific exercises.

After last week, your muscles are primed and pumped for a week of HIIT / HIRT workout.

As you already know, this workout is all about:

anaerobic endurance

burning fat

weight lifting supersets

HIIT sprints

balancing muscle groups & movements

lifting for time instead of reps

OVERVIEW

4 x 5 Min HIIT sprint superset

3 x 5 Min HIRT supersets

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

We’re hitting the same bodyparts as Day #1, but I have changed up the order of the supersets and I want you to choose different exercises from Day #1

Other than that, the goals are the same…

anaerobic endurance

burning fat

weight lifting supersets

HIIT sprints

balancing muscle groups & movements

lifting for time instead of reps

laying waste to an invading Persian horde

… the rep & set schemes are the same…

OVERVIEW

4 x 5 Min HIIT sprint superset

3 x 5 Min HIRT supersets

…and I expect the same 100% effort from y’all.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

The next few weeks are based on making your nervous system super-efficient.

The overall volume of these workouts will be reduced quite a bit. You may even feel like you’re not doing enough.

Give it a week or two, and if you don’t see significant gains in performance, I’ll add in more volume.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

I recommend, use and have an affiliate agreement with the Gymboss Interval Timer people. They have recently introduced a new model – the Gymboss Max – that allows you to do more complicated intervals as well as keep your favorite intervals in memory.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

When you can breathe “normally”, I want you to do a short HIIT sprint session consisting of

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re going back to Tabata.

Tabata #2

See Saw Press

Press the DBs/KBs for 20 seconds

Rest (arms at side) for 10 seconds

8 sets of see saw presses

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re doing HIIT sprints again.

HIIT #2

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re going back to Tabata.

Tabata #3

Standing Cable Row

Row for 20 seconds

Rest for 10 seconds

8 sets of standing cable rows

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

When you can breathe “normally”, it’s HIIT time again.

HIIT #3

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’ve got one more Tabata.

Tabata #4

1 Leg Deadlift

Deadlift on 1 leg for 20 seconds

Rest (standing) for 10 seconds

Repeat on other leg – alternate back and forth

8 sets of 1 Leg DLs

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

Hold DBs for resistance

That should be enough for today.

At this point, you have done 16 minutes of HIIT/HIRT/Tabata work + another 9 minutes of HIIT sprints

If you are a total freak of nature, feel free to repeat some of the sets. Use your ability to recover your breath as a guide. If it’s taking longer & longer to breath normally between sets, call it a day.

Alternately, you can throw in 20 minutes of cardio….stretch and go home

I recommend, use and have an affiliate agreement with the Gymboss Interval Timer people. They have recently introduced a new model – the Gymboss Max – that allows you to do more complicated intervals as well as keep your favorite intervals in memory.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

When you can breathe “normally”, I want you to do a short HIIT sprint session consisting of

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re going back to Tabata.

Tabata #2

See Saw Press

Press the DBs/KBs for 20 seconds

Rest (arms at side) for 10 seconds

8 sets of see saw presses

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re doing HIIT sprints again.

HIIT #2

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re going back to Tabata.

Tabata #3

Standing Cable Row

Row for 20 seconds

Rest for 10 seconds

8 sets of standing cable rows

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

When you can breathe “normally”, it’s HIIT time again.

HIIT #3

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’ve got one more Tabata.

Tabata #4

1 Leg Deadlift

Deadlift on 1 leg for 20 seconds

Rest (standing) for 10 seconds

Repeat on other leg – alternate back and forth

8 sets of 1 Leg DLs

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

Hold DBs for resistance

That should be enough for today.

At this point, you have done 16 minutes of HIIT/HIRT/Tabata work + another 9 minutes of HIIT sprints

If you are a total freak of nature, feel free to repeat some of the sets. Use your ability to recover your breath as a guide. If it’s taking longer & longer to breath normally between sets, call it a day.

Alternately, you can throw in 20 minutes of cardio….stretch and go home

HIIT workouts are all about intensity. The goal is to generate huge amounts of power & speed in a relatively short period of time…over and over again with the smallest possible rest periods.

If the resistance is too high, you don’t get the speed.

If the resistance is too low, you don’t get the power

If the rest periods are too short, you don’t get the power or speed or volume and you’ll probably puke.

If the rest periods are too long, you’ll get power & speed but you’ll never develop any anaerobic endurance.

Honestly, designing a really good HIIT workout is more art than science.

And my client Zoe is turning into one heck of a HIIT workout artist. Last week, she tells me that she modified one of my take-home workouts and created her own HIIT workout. And while a lesser trainer would have been insulted and thrown a hissy fit…I was intrigued. So, we programmed the Gymboss interval timer and Zoe showed me her HIIT workout. Enjoy.

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 10 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 20 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 30 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 40 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Rest 50 seconds

Sprint full out for 10 seconds

Done

For a grand total of 6 sprints in 210 seconds or 3 1/2 minutes

,

I LOVE IT!!!

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The pyramid effect of the rest periods allowed Zoe to:

Maximize the volume of HIIT work performed – she did this HIIT workout 3x as part of a very challenging HIRT workout

Keep her resistance level high

Keep her speed level high

Recover sufficently during the HIIT session

Recover completely very quickly post workout

It’s a great HIIT workout.

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And as Zoe’s athletic ability improves, we can increase the intensity of this workout by throwing in an extra 10:10 ratio HIIT sprint….or perform 2 sessions back to back….or make it part of an endurance cardio workout….

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The options are endless.

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Weight selection can sometimes be tricky with Tabata workouts. If you go too heavy, you run out of gas and stop partway through the 20 seconds of work. Go too light and it becomes an aerobics class.

What I ask my clients to do is:

If you normally like to push heavy weight…I want you to cut back significantly during Tabatas and focus on the number of reps per set.

If you normally train lighter and do high rep workouts..then I want you to jack up the weight and drop the # of reps

The success of this program depends on you being willing to break out of your comfort zone.

We’re going to do 2 weeks of these workouts, then back of for a week with some bridge workouts and then back to Tabata for another 2 weeks.

You might hate me during the workouts, but you’ll thank me when you see yourself in the mirror..

Also helpful to these workouts is an interval timer. Staring at a clock while doing Tabatas is a real pain.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

When you can breathe “normally”, I want you to do a short HIIT sprint session consisting of

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re going back to Tabata.

Tabata #2

See Saw Press

Press the DBs/KBs for 20 seconds

Rest (arms at side) for 10 seconds

8 sets of see saw presses

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re doing HIIT sprints again.

HIIT #2

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’re going back to Tabata.

Tabata #3

Standing Cable Row

Row for 20 seconds

Rest for 10 seconds

8 sets of standing cable rows

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

When you can breathe “normally”, it’s HIIT time again.

HIIT #3

3 x 10:50 sec sprints.

If you’re in a gym – use an exercise bike, outdoors – sprint up a hill, in your home – use the bottom step of your stairs as a cardio-step machine.

10 seconds sprinting

50 seconds rest

3x

Lay on the floor & catch your breath.

When you can breathe “normally”, we’ve got one more Tabata.

Tabata #4

1 Leg Deadlift

Deadlift on 1 leg for 20 seconds

Rest (standing) for 10 seconds

Repeat on other leg – alternate back and forth

8 sets of 1 Leg DLs

4 min total

Perform as many reps as possible per set

Hold DBs for resistance

That should be enough for today.

At this point, you have done 16 minutes of HIIT/HIRT/Tabata work + another 9 minutes of HIIT sprints

If you are a total freak of nature, feel free to repeat some of the sets. Use your ability to recover your breath as a guide. If it’s taking longer & longer to breath normally between sets, call it a day.

Alternately, you can throw in 20 minutes of cardio….stretch and go home

As I said last week, I want to see an even better improvement in performance – shorter rest periods, more reps per 5 min, etc..

Get to work.

PHASE 1

Warm-Up

Feel free to mix things up during the warm-up. The goal is to warm up your muscles and to get your joints lubricated. I like the following warm-up exercises, but as long as your muscles are getting pliable and your joints are feeling “loose”….feel free to do your own thing…as long as it gets the job done.

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5 Minutes of the following 4 Mobility Exercises:

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1. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

.

2. Rolling Like A Ball

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3. Shin Box

.

4. Lateral Lunges

.

5 Minutes of the following Muscle Warm-Up Exercises

I am going to list a bunch of exercises. You choose which ones you want to do….remembering that the goal is to warm up the muscles and make them pliable and ready to handle the following workout

As I said last week, I want to see an even better improvement in performance – shorter rest periods, more reps per 5 min, etc..

Get to work.

PHASE 1

Warm-Up

Feel free to mix things up during the warm-up. The goal is to warm up your muscles and to get your joints lubricated. I like the following warm-up exercises, but as long as your muscles are getting pliable and your joints are feeling “loose”….feel free to do your own thing…as long as it gets the job done.

.

5 Minutes of the following 4 Mobility Exercises:

.

1. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

.

2. Rolling Like A Ball

.

3. Shin Box

.

4. Lateral Lunges

.

5 Minutes of the following Muscle Warm-Up Exercises

I am going to list a bunch of exercises. You choose which ones you want to do….remembering that the goal is to warm up the muscles and make them pliable and ready to handle the following workout

The HIRT Workout

HIRT Superset #1

Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

Prior to each “work” set, I want you to either:

Do a 2-5 reps of a light weight, explosive exercise which works the same muscles as the work set (ex. jumping up & down before doing squats), OR

Do a very strong isometric (non moving) version of the work set exercise for 2-3 seconds before performing the work set.(ex. pushing against a wall before a bench press)

This will get your nervous system all charged up and help you perform better on the work set.

.

Zercher or Front Squat

10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

Goblet squats and band front squats are great substitutes

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of BW Jumping Squats – goal is to explode up quickly & leave the ground

Alternative work exercise – Back Squats.

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1 Leg Deadlift

10 reps per leg per set

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of BW Hip Thrusts where you try to explode up quickly so that your feet leave the ground OR a couple of broad jumps across the gym floor (and yes, people will look at you)

Alternative work exercise – none

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HIRT Superset #2

2 exercises per superset

10 minutes per superset

NO REST between sets

Choose a weight that would allow you to perform 20 reps (20RM)

Perform 10 reps per set (unless stated otherwise)

Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

Prior to each “work” set, I want you to either:

Do a 2-5 reps of a light weight, explosive exercise which works the same muscles as the work set (ex. jumping up & down before doing squats), OR

Do a very strong isometric (non moving) version of the work set exercise for 2-3 seconds before performing the work set.(ex. pushing against a wall before a bench press)

Hi-Lo Vertical Cable/Band Slam

10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

I need to make a video of this…and I will, but for now, let me describe with the aid of these 2 videos.

Imagine a medicine ball slam

But, instead of using a medicine ball, we used a cable stack (rope handle) or a strength band

The guy in this video is way too spastic for my liking. What I want is a very distinct up and down movement. Nice and powerful like the med ball slam but with the added resistance of the cable stack or the strength bands.

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of the same exercise (Slams) with light weight/resistance – the goal is speed.

Alternative work exercise – Standing Straight Arm Pushdowns.

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1 Arm DB Press

10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of 1 Arm Med Ball Vertical Throws – try and throw the med ball through the ceiling.

Alternative work exercise – Face Pulls.

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HIRT Superset #3

2 exercises per superset

10 minutes per superset

NO REST between sets

Choose a weight that would allow you to perform 20 reps (20RM)

Perform 10 reps per set (unless stated otherwise)

Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

Prior to each “work” set, I want you to either:

Do a 2-5 reps of a light weight, explosive exercise which works the same muscles as the work set (ex. jumping up & down before doing squats), OR

Do a very strong isometric (non moving) version of the work set exercise for 2-3 seconds before performing the work set.(ex. pushing against a wall before a bench press)

Swing Snatch

10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of very light swing snatches where your goal is speed, not strength

Alternative work exercise – none

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Bulgarian Split Squat

10 reps per leg per set @ 20 RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of Shuffle Lunges where you try to explode up quickly so that your feet leave the ground.

Alternative work exercise – none

..

HIRT Superset #4

2 exercises per superset

10 minutes per superset

NO REST between sets

Choose a weight that would allow you to perform 20 reps (20RM)

Perform 10 reps per set (unless stated otherwise)

Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

Prior to each “work” set, I want you to either:

Do a 2-5 reps of a light weight, explosive exercise which works the same muscles as the work set (ex. jumping up & down before doing squats), OR

Do a very strong isometric (non moving) version of the work set exercise for 2-3 seconds before performing the work set.(ex. pushing against a wall before a bench press)

Standing Cable/Band Row

10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of light resistance Band Rows (goal is speed) or some Isometric Rowing using an immovable object (like a heavy piece of fitness equipment)

Alternative work exercise – Seated Rows or (shudder) Machine Rows.

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Push-Ups

5-20 reps per set

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of Explosive Push-Ups with the goal being to lose contact with the floor/bench/wall

Alternative work exercise – none

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HIRT Superset #5 – optional

Repeat one of the first 4 Supersets – your choice

HIRT Superset #6 – optional

Repeat one of the first 4 Supersets – your choice

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PHASE 3

10 minutes of DIY

If you really want to lose weight, spend 10 minutes doing some HIITsprints on an exercise bike. I would recommend 10 sprints with a 10 sec ON : 50 sec OFF ratio

As I said last week, I want to see an even better improvement in performance – shorter rest periods, more reps per 5 min, etc..

Get to work.

PHASE 1

Warm-Up

Feel free to mix things up during the warm-up. The goal is to warm up your muscles and to get your joints lubricated. I like the following warm-up exercises, but as long as your muscles are getting pliable and your joints are feeling “loose”….feel free to do your own thing…as long as it gets the job done.

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5 Minutes of the following 4 Mobility Exercises:

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1. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

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2. Rolling Like A Ball

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3. Shin Box

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4. Lateral Lunges

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5 Minutes of the following Muscle Warm-Up Exercises

I am going to list a bunch of exercises. You choose which ones you want to do….remembering that the goal is to warm up the muscles and make them pliable and ready to handle the following workout

The HIRT Workout

HIRT Superset #1

Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

Prior to each “work” set, I want you to either:

Do a 2-5 reps of a light weight, explosive exercise which works the same muscles as the work set (ex. jumping up & down before doing squats), OR

Do a very strong isometric (non moving) version of the work set exercise for 2-3 seconds before performing the work set.(ex. pushing against a wall before a bench press)

This will get your nervous system all charged up and help you perform better on the work set.

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Zercher or Front Squat

10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

Goblet squats and band front squats are great substitutes

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of BW Jumping Squats – goal is to explode up quickly & leave the ground

Alternative work exercise – Back Squats.

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1 Leg Deadlift

10 reps per leg per set

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of BW Hip Thrusts where you try to explode up quickly so that your feet leave the ground OR a couple of broad jumps across the gym floor (and yes, people will look at you)

Alternative work exercise – none

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HIRT Superset #2

2 exercises per superset

10 minutes per superset

NO REST between sets

Choose a weight that would allow you to perform 20 reps (20RM)

Perform 10 reps per set (unless stated otherwise)

Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

Prior to each “work” set, I want you to either:

Do a 2-5 reps of a light weight, explosive exercise which works the same muscles as the work set (ex. jumping up & down before doing squats), OR

Do a very strong isometric (non moving) version of the work set exercise for 2-3 seconds before performing the work set.(ex. pushing against a wall before a bench press)

Hi-Lo Vertical Cable/Band Slam

10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

I need to make a video of this…and I will, but for now, let me describe with the aid of these 2 videos.

Imagine a medicine ball slam

But, instead of using a medicine ball, we used a cable stack (rope handle) or a strength band

The guy in this video is way too spastic for my liking. What I want is a very distinct up and down movement. Nice and powerful like the med ball slam but with the added resistance of the cable stack or the strength bands.

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of the same exercise (Slams) with light weight/resistance – the goal is speed.

Alternative work exercise – Standing Straight Arm Pushdowns.

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1 Arm DB Press

10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of 1 Arm Med Ball Vertical Throws – try and throw the med ball through the ceiling.

Alternative work exercise – Face Pulls.

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HIRT Superset #3

2 exercises per superset

10 minutes per superset

NO REST between sets

Choose a weight that would allow you to perform 20 reps (20RM)

Perform 10 reps per set (unless stated otherwise)

Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

Prior to each “work” set, I want you to either:

Do a 2-5 reps of a light weight, explosive exercise which works the same muscles as the work set (ex. jumping up & down before doing squats), OR

Do a very strong isometric (non moving) version of the work set exercise for 2-3 seconds before performing the work set.(ex. pushing against a wall before a bench press)

Swing Snatch

10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of very light swing snatches where your goal is speed, not strength

Alternative work exercise – none

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Bulgarian Split Squat

10 reps per leg per set @ 20 RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of Shuffle Lunges where you try to explode up quickly so that your feet leave the ground.

Alternative work exercise – none

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HIRT Superset #4

2 exercises per superset

10 minutes per superset

NO REST between sets

Choose a weight that would allow you to perform 20 reps (20RM)

Perform 10 reps per set (unless stated otherwise)

Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

Prior to each “work” set, I want you to either:

Do a 2-5 reps of a light weight, explosive exercise which works the same muscles as the work set (ex. jumping up & down before doing squats), OR

Do a very strong isometric (non moving) version of the work set exercise for 2-3 seconds before performing the work set.(ex. pushing against a wall before a bench press)

Standing Cable/Band Row

10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of light resistance Band Rows (goal is speed) or some Isometric Rowing using an immovable object (like a heavy piece of fitness equipment)

Alternative work exercise – Seated Rows or (shudder) Machine Rows.

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Push-Ups

5-20 reps per set

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of Explosive Push-Ups with the goal being to lose contact with the floor/bench/wall

Alternative work exercise – none

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HIRT Superset #5 – optional

Repeat one of the first 4 Supersets – your choice

HIRT Superset #6 – optional

Repeat one of the first 4 Supersets – your choice

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PHASE 3

10 minutes of DIY

If you really want to lose weight, spend 10 minutes doing some HIITsprints on an exercise bike. I would recommend 10 sprints with a 10 sec ON : 50 sec OFF ratio